Feed device for loading binding bars

ABSTRACT

A feed device for loading binding bars, comprises a channel member through which the edge of a stack of sheets may be advanced, the member including an insert portion adapted to open the nip of a binding bar on insertion thereinto and a mouth portion for receiving said stack of sheets whereby said stack may be slid into the binding bar.

United States Patent 1191 FEED DEVICEFOR LOADING BINDING BARS [75] Inventor: Anthony Howard Gill, Smallfield,

near Horley, England [73] Assignee'. Arthur Gill (London) Limited, London, England [22] Filed: July 9, 1971 [21] AppI. N0.: 161,106

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 22, 1970 Great Britain ..35,503/70 52 us. (:1. ..11/1 R 51 Int. Cl. .342: 1/02 [58] Field oiSearch ..11/1 R, 1 AC;

1451 Apr. 17, 1973 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,234,045 3/1941 Emmer 1 1/1 AC 2,729,835 l/l956 Spinner.... 1/1 R 3,479,676 11/1969 Morris ..11/1 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 830,636 2/1952 Germany ..1 III AC Primary Examiner-Lawrence Charles AttomeyBaldwin, Wight & Brown ABSTRACT A feed device for loading binding bars, comprises a channel member through which the edge of a stack of sheets may be advanced, the member including an insert portion adapted to open the nip of a binding bar on insertion thereinto and a mouth portion for receiving said stack of sheets whereby said stack may be slid into the binding bar.

3 Clairm, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEW I 71975 3. 727', 256 sum 2 or 2 S/OC/Z This invention relates to a feed device for loading binding bars which are a well-known type of loose-leaf binder.

Binding bars, such as those sold by the Applicants under the Trade Name Bindfast, usually come in hollow lengths of extruded p.v.c., although other plastics materials or metal may be used in the fabrication thereof, and are substantially pear-shaped or triangllar in cross-section. A nip is provided at the or one apex thereof, the nip being constituted by opposed jaws of the bar which, in use, securely clamp a stack of sheets inserted thereinto, the binding bar thus forming the spine of the bound sheets.

In practice it is found cumbersome manually to open up the nip and load the binding bar, especially when thick stacks of sheets are to be bound, and accordingly it is a main object of the present invention to provide means to assist in the loading of binding bars with a stack of sheets.

The present invention provides a feed device for loading binding bars, comprising a channel member through which the edge of a stack of sheets may be advanced, the member including an insert portion adapted to open the nip of a binding bar on insertion thereinto and a mouth portion for receiving said stack -of sheets whereby said stack may be slid into the binding bar.

The insert portion wedges apart the jaws of the binding bar which are sufficiently flexible to splay outwardly, and as the stack of sheets is advanced through the device, the stack acts to wedge open the portion of the nip ahead of it so that the stack can slide smoothly into place.

Preferably the device includes stop means to prevent insertion of the device into the binding bar beyond the insert portion. 7

A preferred feed device for loading a binding bar in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device,

FIG. 2 is an underneath plan view of the device,

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the device,

FIG. 4 is an elevation of the left-hand end of the device of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the device,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the device inserted in a binding bar,

FIG. 7 is a section on the line VII-VII of FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is an end view of a binding bar before and after insertion of the device of FIGS. 1 to 7.

Referring to the drawings, the feed device is a onepiece (i.e. integral) pressing or stamping from sheet steel plate comprising a channel member 1 through which the edge of a stack of sheets may be advanced, the member including an insert portion 2 adapted to mediately ahead of it so that the stack'slides smoothly open the nip of a binding bar on. insertion thereinto as hereinafter described, and a mouth portion 3 for receiving the stack of sheets whereby the stack may be slid into the binding bar.

The channel member 1 comprises a generally wedge shaped base portion 4 and two opposed inwardly directed sidewalls 5 bent towards each other, except at the mouth portion 3 where end portions of the walls 5 diverge to define a funnel entrance to the gap 6 between the sidewalls 5.

As will be seen from the drawings, the device is substantially wedge-shaped (cuneiform) in each of the three dimensions, the insert and mouth portions 2,3 merging at a neck 7. Stamped from the base 4 is an upstanding tang 8. The side walls 5 stand up from the converging edges of the base portion 4, an end portion of each side wall 5 at the end of the base portion 4 of greatest width being outwardly flared. The end of the base portion 4 of least width together with the adjacent inwardly directed side walls constitutes an insert portion adapted to be inserted into the nip of a binding bar.

In use the insert portion 2 of the device is inserted into the hollow 9 of a binding bar 10, shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, constituted by a hollow length of extruded p.v.c. having a substantially triangular cross-section. In this manner the nip 11 of the bar, formed by opposed jaws 12 which are sprung together, is opened up as shown in FIG. 6. The edge of a stack of sheets is then inserted into the mouthportion 3, which remains external of the binding bar because the tang 8 abuts the end 13 of the binding bar. The stack is then pushed inwardly of the device through the neck 7 and insert portion 2, and as it does so, it opens up the portion of the nip 11 iminto place. In position the binding bar acts as the spine of the stack of sheets bound thereby.

I claim:

1. A feed device for loading binding bars, comprising a channel member through which the edge of a stack of sheets may be advanced, said member comprising a generally wedge shaped base portion and a pair of opposed, inwardly directed side walls upstanding on the two converging edges of said base portion, an end portion of each of said side walls at the end of said base portion of greatest width being outwardly flared, the end of said base portion of least width together with the inwardly directed side walls thereat constituting an insert portion adapted to open the nip of a binding bar on insertion thereinto and the end of said base portion of greatest width together with said outwardly flared end portions of the side walls constituting a mouth portion for receiving said stack of sheets whereby said stack may be slid into the binding bar.

2. A feed device according to claim 1 including stop 

1. A feed device for loading binding bars, comprising a channel member through which the edge of a stack of sheets may be advanced, said member comprising a generally wedge shaped base portion and a pair of opposed, inwardly directed side walls upstanding on the two converging edges of said base portion, an end portion of each of said side walls at the end of said base portion of greatest width being outwardly flared, the end of said base portion of least width together with the inwardly directed side walls thereat constituting an insert portion adapted to open the nip of a binding bar on insertion thereinto and the end of said base portion of greatest width together with said outwardly flared end portions of the side walls constituting a mouth portion for receiving said stack of sheets whereby said stack may be slid into the binding bar.
 2. A feed device according to claim 1 including stop means to prevent insertion of the device into the binding bar beyond the insert portion.
 3. In combination, a feed device according to claim 2 inserted into a binding bar. 